Stimulus package includes Hanford cleanup money

WASHINGTON, D.C. - An economic stimulus package approved by Congress includes $5.1 billion for cleaning up former weapons sites from the Cold War era and the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state could be a big winner.

The U.S. Department of Energy will make the final decision on how much money will be spent where. But Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington says Hanford is expected to get about one-third of that money.

Murray says the measure will create thousands of jobs at the site in southeast Washington, where plutonium for nuclear weapons was produced beginning during World War II.

It's described as the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation. Cleanup costs there are expected to top $50 billion.